Ernest Osogbue.
I was taking a walk from Area 10 in Garki, Abuja; a very popular hub in the city, colloquially referred to as ‘arts and culture’ in street lingo, to the Old Parade Grounds, a few hundred meters away, one fateful morning, when I ran into a hoard of fresh graduates in their NYSC uniforms. For those unfamiliar with Abuja, ‘arts and culture’ generally refers to the Cyprian Ekwensi Center for Arts and Culture; a prominent edifice in the area, from where it gets the name. It also includes the Area 10 post office; another prominent edifice that has seen better days, due to a lack of maintenance. There’s also the popular Area 10 shopping Center, currently under renovation at the time of writing, and could also include the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) Headquarters, which sits prominently in the neighborhood.
Arts and culture, is usually a beehive of activities, from Mondays through Saturdays, as petty traders, hustlers, hawkers, civil servants, Mama Puts, agberos, bukateria operators, beggars, layabouts, and especially printers, and logo designers, have a field day, as they strive to make a living in a difficult society. For whatever reasons, there’s always a flow of fresh graduates, dressed in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) uniform, trekking from the Cyprian Ekwensi Center, to the Old Parade Grounds on a regular basis. The Old Parade Grounds on its own, is another historical space in the vicinity. As the name implies, it used to be the venue for national day parades, handing and taking over of government, and other national and international events which now take place at the Eagle Square. Today, however, the Old Parade Grounds, has lost its glory and wears a dilapidated look, it has unofficially transformed to the car park of the Nigerian military, due to its proximity to the defense headquarters, which obviously lacks one. It is also the venue for mini sports events, and equally houses an unkempt hostel for FCT sportsmen and women. Information available, shows that members of the NYSC regularly congregate there, as part of their Community Development (CD) duties, by loafing around and basically doing nothing all day, on their designated CD days.
On this day in question, however, I had stopped off, to exchange pleasantries at the arts and culture, with my favorite Mama Put, whom I hadn’t seen since the beginning of the year. Having concluded that obligation, I headed for a scheduled meeting with some professional colleagues at the Old Parade Grounds. Rather than drive or take a cab, I decided for the sake of my cardio, to walk the short distance in order to work up a sweat. That was how I found myself smack dab in the midst of the human flow of ‘Youth Corpers,’ as NYSC members are commonly addressed, heading from arts and culture, to the Old Parade Grounds.
Not wanting to dampen the joy of the youthful and exuberant group, or cramp their style, like a grandpa in the midst of minors, I maintained my walk just a few meters from them. Not too far away, though, but near enough to catch some phrases in their conversations, but also not near enough to be accused of eavesdropping on their tattle. As I walked alongside them, observing their gestures, mannerisms, and general interactions with one another, I was suddenly struck by the thought that these were actually tomorrow’s leaders. Amongst these uniformed fresh graduates, in a few years time, would possibly be presidents, governors, managing directors, permanent secretaries, board members, ministers, senators, police officers, journalists, soldiers, ambassadors, local government chairmen, and sundry leaders in different fields.
I therefore decided to show more interest in their general demeanor, with a view to understanding whether they have accepted their formal transition to adulthood and it’s inherent responsibilities. As I made out snippets of their conversations, I could tell that they were not in the least conscious of what lay ahead of them. I looked at their faces, observed their gait, and general composure, as they walked carelessly along, oblivious to the fact that they were being assessed. Their uniforms were in various degrees of disarray, showing that they had dressed up hurriedly. The uniforms had clearly been pulled out of wherever it had carelessly been dumped from the last usage and thrown on without care. Most of them had their shirt buttons opened, and the tails of their shirts flying. The women amongst them, were no better, with their white t-shirts clearly showing the colors and outlines of their undergarments.
The look on their faces was the most interesting to me; as young graduates coming into adulthood, you expected a look of determined focus, a look indicating the desire to conquer the future, to stand out, to make a name for yourself, to change the world. What I noticed, however, was a look of careless youthful freedom, a vacant look without expectations, a look completely void of the solemnity of adulthood. A look that simply said, in my thinking; after this compulsory service, I’ll simply go back home to Mama and Papa.
Walking down the road with those graduates that morning, gave me the biggest fright of my life, as my eyes were suddenly opened to tomorrow’s Nigeria, where the leaders, a few years from today, were completely oblivious of the challenges ahead of them. It was clear from their demeanor that the youth service was just another routine obligation to be discharged in order for them to go back to other childish desires. I remembered that I had read somewhere that Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, had both been 19 years old when they made their breakthroughs in tech, from where they became the influential figures they are in the world today. I wondered at the kind of society we have, and our educational system, where children in their most productive and imaginative years, were still being spoon fed in all aspects of their lives, and therefore were lacking in maturity. Young graduates were still unable to take adult decisions, they still have to be guided in all that they do. More likely than not, most of them studied courses chosen by their parents, or forced on them by the institutions of learning, rather than the courses of their own choosing.
As a sports enthusiast, I watch teenaged champions from other societies handle themselves with maturity when addressing the international media regularly, after excelling in competitions. I observe the poise with which they carry themselves, and it becomes obvious that leadership qualities have been ingrained in them from the cradle. In Nigeria however, we pamper our youths, we make decisions for our children. We don’t allow them exercise their individual personalities. We pressure or force them to undertake a post graduate degree program, when they haven’t achieved anything with their first degrees. It became obvious to me there and then, that Nigeria was responsible for the presence of grandfathers in leadership. Our system was responsible for the presidential villa becoming a rehab center for old Gagools and sickly presidents.
As the saying goes; you don’t sow grapes and expect to harvest rice. Nigeria was not building a proper foundation for the development of its youths. From primary school, up to the tertiary level, the educational curriculum has nothing to do with leadership training. Our educational system is focused more on the acquisition of paper certificates, rather than the grooming of professionals and leaders of tomorrow. Our graduates leave the university with the mentality of children, they are not groomed or trained to provide solutions to the challenges in the society. They are not made to understand that the future belongs to them, and that they must grab the opportunity with two hands.
A 40 year old Nigerian is still dreaming about his future, whereas, his contemporaries in other societies have already attained. 50 and 60 year old men and women, are political party youth leaders in Nigeria, when their contemporaries in other societies have actually retired from public service. It became clear to me that our educational system, family development system, as well as our societal development systems, are completely at variance with our national aspirations. Nigerians desire a society where the young are in charge of tomorrow, yet we lack the necessary leadership procedures for youth maturity into adulthood. Octogenerians are still dreaming of leadership and how to contest and win elections, while youths who own the future are still in diapers and sucking their thumbs. It becomes clear that Nigeria’s tomorrow is already in disarray if the demeanor of our youths is anything to go by.
I began to wonder if it were possible to rejig our entire educational curriculum, from primary to tertiary levels. The National Youth Service Corps program, is still operating with an outdated orientation scheme after over 50 years of its coming on stream. No effort has been made to review and improve it to include skills acquisition, and leadership training. Youth Corpers march through three weeks of national orientation like zombies, in a march past that yields no tangible benefits to Nigeria. A situation where the policies of government are completely at variance with national aspirations, is absolutely unsustainable. How does Nigeria grow, when the decisions we make, the policies of government, and the upbringing of our children are diametrically opposed to the visions and aspirations of Nigerians? It is so frustrating to see political leaders talk about what is good for the north and what is good for the south, as if there were two different Nigerias. How could people elected to make Nigeria better indulge in primordial arguments of my religion is superior to yours, and my ethnic group is more important than your own, when there are more important problems to resolve, like the crumbling foundations of our nation. If we continue in the current direction, the Nigeria of tomorrow is already doomed. This is the time for all Nigerians to come together, irrespective of political affiliations, religious or ethnic background. We must put our heads together and chart a new course for Nigeria. We need to sit down, and discuss the short, medium, and long term future of our country, and come up with a clear pathway to unity and prosperity. The best place to begin is with youths who own tomorrow, and are expected to take Nigeria to the promised land. If we do not heed this call, the consequences from all indications would be dire.
